Research Area: Mobile Computing
Intentions to utilize differential ion mobility spectrometry (DMS) for environmental applications including the monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or semi volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in aqueous media such as surface waters or ground waters are encouraged by robust technology, stable calibrations, trace detection limits, rapid analyses, and favourable response to VOCs and SVOCs. One embodiment of IMS known as differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) is particularly attractive due to simplicity, affordability, and comb ability to directly flows containing elevated levels of moisture from aqueous samples.
At moistures of 1×102 to 1×103 ppmv, peak separation in mobility spectra from a DMS analyser at 30°C was improved due to changes in alpha functions which describe ion mobility coefficient dependences on electric field strength of the separation waveform. At vapor concentrations of 7 ppb for ketones with carbon number 6 to 12, increases in moisture also resulted in lower relative abundances for proton bound dimers, M2H+(H2O)n, and larger abundances for protonated monomers, MH+(H2O)n. This arose from the influence of moisture on the chemistry of ionization in the source of the analyser.
Name of the Researcher: Safaei, Zahra
Name of the Supervisor(s): Eveliina Repo
Year of Completion: 2020
University: Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology
Thesis Link: Home Page Url
